Service tray



April 23, 1929. G. E. wmN-EY SERVICE TRAY Original Filed Aug. 3, 192

Patented Apr.Y '23, 19.29.

UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE."

GEORGE E. WHITNEY, F BRIDGEPORT, CONNEGTIC'UT, ASSIGNOB T0 SAMUEL ZIMMER,

' 0F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

SERVICE TRAY.

Applieationiled August 3, 1926, Serial No. 126,866. I .Renewed February 1, 1929.

This invention relates to service trays, but Amore particularly to devices of this descrip- Ltion which are equipped with two pairs of foldable legs one at each end of the bottom portion of the tray. 1 U

The object of the present inventlon 1s to.

maintain the legs in closed or opened positions without the aid of any special'lixtures. h

In the accompanying vdrawings whlch form a part of this application- Figure 1 is a perspective View of the bottom of a tray equipped with this improvement, the legs being shown in opened position.

Figure 2 is a broken perspective view, on an ,enlarged scale, of 'one end of the bottom portion of the tray with the leg closed.

Figure 3A is a section at theline 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section at the line 4 4 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a vview similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified form of the inven-z tion.

Similar numerals of reference vdenote likel each leg consisting of a continuous wireformed into a cross rod 4 at the inner porl tion of the leg, which rod is pivotally swung l5 from hangers 5 secured to the strip 2, the wire immediately beyond the hangers being bent at right angles to form the. legs proper and fashioned into feet '6 and then prefer ably welded intermediate the feet at the .0 point 7. f

The cross rods 4 have their central portions deflected so as to form cams 8 which, when the legs are folded, extend outwardly and are in contact with the strip 2, the con- `5 tact surfaces of the cams being flattened as shown at 9, andwhen the legs are opened these cam portions will extend inwardly and will contact the strip 2 at the flattened portions 10. 'p 0 The swinging of the legs from opened to closed position will cause the cams 8 to operate against the strips 2, thereby causing the rods 4 to yield resiliently, so" that when the legs are folded against the bottom of the tray the recovery of the rods and the disposition of the cams will cause the legs to be securely held in folded position, particularly since the cams will contact the strips 2 along the flattened portion'9. When' the legs are opened the -cams will also con-u tact .the strips 2 and cause the legs to yield resiliently and to recover when the legs are, fully opened with the cams extending inwardly, and contacting the strips 2 at the attened portions 10. i

In order to prevent the overthrow of the legs when they are opened the rods near one end have a bight 11 formed therewith which operates as a shoulder to strike against the strips 2 when the le s are fully opened.

But instead of thls bight the legs may be ,formed with the free ends 12 of the wire bent as shown at Figure 5, in which instance an extra hanger 13 secured to the strip 2 is provided through' which one end of the wire pivotally extends. f

The strip 2 greatly reenforces the tray and offers such resistance to the action of the cams, thatconsiderable force is necessary both in opening and closing the legs, thus greatly contributing toward their security in both folded and opened positions.

1. A service tray comprising a tray pro er having at each end of its bottom `portion an elongated metal strip, hangers secured to said strip, cross rods pivotally swung in said hangers and having formed at their central portions cams, said rods immediately beyond the hangers being bent at' right angles to constitute the legs proper and then fashioned into feet,'the rods being provided with shouldered portions to limit the outward throw of -the legs.

2. A construction as in claim 1 in which thc surfaces of the cams that Contact the strips are flattened.A

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature hereto. y

` GEORGE E. WHITNEY. 

